en
done for economy, and nothing for beauty. The occupiers of Casalunga
had thought more of the produce of their land than of picturesque or
attractive appearance.

The sun was blazing fiercely hot, hotter on this side, Sir Marmaduke
thought, even than on the other; and there was not a wavelet of a
cloud in the sky. A balcony ran the whole length of the house, and
under this Sir Marmaduke took shelter at once, leaning with his back
against the wall. "There is not a soul here at all," said he.

"The men in the barn told us that there was," said Mr. Glascock;
"and, at any rate, we will try the windows." So saying, he walked
along the front of the house, Sir Marmaduke following him slowly,
till they came to a door, the upper half of which was glazed, and
through which they looked into one of the rooms. Two or three of the
other windows in this frontage of the house came down to the ground,
and were made for egress and ingress; but they had all been closed
with shutters, as though the house was deserted. But they now looked
into a room which contained some signs of habitation. There was a
small table with a marble top, on which lay two or three books, and
there were two arm-chairs in the room, with gilded arms and legs,
and a morsel of carpet, and a clock on a shelf over a stove, and--a
rocking-horse. "The boy is here, you may be sure," said Mr. Glascock.
"The rocking-horse makes that certain. But how are we to get at any
one!"

"I never saw such a place for an Englishman to come and live in
before," said Sir Marmaduke. "What on earth can he do here all day!"
As he spoke the door of the room was opened, and there was Trevelyan
standing before them, looking at them through the window. He wore an
old red English dressing-gown, which came down to his feet, and a
small braided Italian cap on his head. His beard had been allowed
to grow, and he had neither collar nor cravat. His trousers were
unbraced, and he shuffled in with a pair of slippers, which would
hardly cling to his feet. He was paler and still thinner than when he
had been visited at Willesden, and his eyes seemed to be larger, and
shone almost with a brighter brilliancy.

Mr. Glascock tried to open the door, but found that it was closed.
"Sir Marmaduke and I have come to visit you," said Mr. Glascock,
aloud. "Is there any means by which we can get into the house?"
Trevelyan stood still and stared at them. "We knocked at the front
door, but nobody came," contin